Hillary and Israel; You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

By Phil Boehmke

In a conference call to the Israeli consuls general on Saturday night, Michael Oren (Israel's ambassador to the United States) informed his diplomatic colleagues that relations with the U.S. were in a state of crisis not seen in 35 years. What should have been a minor incident between trusted allies has been used by the Obama administration for their own political purposes. The Jerusalem Post reports .

THERE ARE now ominous signals that to obviate their failures, White House strategists are cynically distancing themselves from us in order to curry popularity by capitalizing on the anti-Israel hatred which has engulfed the world.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been busy escalating a perceived insult to Vice President Biden (the poorly timed announcement of the approval of new homes in Ramat Shlomo) into a stinging rebuke of Israel's commitment to the peace process. For an administration which coddles dictators and reaches out to rogue states it is troubling to watch their treatment of our closest and most reliable ally in the middle east.

That Hillary should treat Israel in such an undiplomatic way should not really come as a surprise. In his book American Evita, Christopher Anderson writes.

At a time when elements of the American Left embraced the Palestinian cause and condemned Israel, Hillary was telling friends that she was "sympathetic" to the terrorist organization and admired its flamboyant leader, Yasser Arafat. When Arafat made his famous appearance before the UN General Assembly in November 1974 wearing his revolutionary uniform and his holster on his hip, Bill "was outraged like everybody else," said a Yale Law School classmate. But not Hillary, who tried to convince Bill that Arafat was a "freedom fighter" trying to free his people from their Israeli "oppressors." (1)

Of course Hillary's feelings about the PLO and Israel are only one aspect of her character, often a person's true nature is more closely revealed in a more intimate setting. In an early showcase of Hillary's diplomatic skills Christopher Anderson relates an experience that she and her future husband had during a trip to Arkansas in 1973.

It was during this trip to his home state that Bill took Hillary to meet a politically well connected friend. When they drove up to the house, Bill and Hillary noticed that a menorah-the seven branched Hebrew candelabrum (not to be confused with the more common and subtler mezuzah)-has been affixed to the front door.

"My daddy was half Jewish," explained Bill's friend. "One day when he came to visit , my daddy placed the menorah on my door because he wanted me to be proud that we were part Jewish. And I wasn't about to say no to my daddy."

To his astonishment, as soon as Hillary saw the menorah, she refused to get out of the car. "Bill walked up to me and said that she was hot and tired, but later he explained the real reason." According to the friend and another eyewitness, Bill said, "I'm sorry, but Hillary's really tight with the people in the PLO in New York. They're friends of hers, and she just doesn't feel right about the menorah." (2)

It is painfully obvious that Secretary of State Clinton still has issues with the Jewish people and the state of Israel. How tragic that someone with a history of anti-Semitic views and behavior should be placed in such a sensitive position. But then, President Obama would seem to echo Hillary's sentiments.

Phil Boehmke

(1) Christopher Anderson, American Evita (Harper-Collins Publishers Inc. 2004) p.49
(2) Ibid., p. 50